Municipal Judge Phil Bellamy files another lawsuit
A Brownsville municipal judge has filed a lawsuit against a local Sam’s Club, its owner Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and a manager at the store in a customer service dispute that the judge said led to his court-ordered confinement at mental health facilities.
Municipal Judge Phil Bellamy, 46, is seeking actual and exemplary damages from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., doing business as Sam’s Club, for harm caused by "the defendants’ fraud and/or malice," according to court documents.
In the lawsuit filed last week in state district court, Bellamy accuses the defendents of making a "false report to the Brownsville Police Department alleging (he) was guilty of disorderly conduct and terroristic threats."
The defendants actions "include, but are not limited to, negligence, gross negligence, false imprisonment, defamation, malicious prosecution," Bellamy states in court records.
The customer service dispute erupted on Jan. 12 between the municipal judge and manager Raul Saenz at the Sam’s Club on West Alton Gloor Boulevard, court filings show.
Bellamy said in a prior court hearing he attempted to purchase a pair of diamond earrings for his wife but was questioned by store employees because of the unusually high cost of the jewelry.
The defendants made the police report "in retaliation for plaintiff’s exercise of his First Amendment right to freedom of expression."
"Not once had any Sam’s Club employee, including defendant Raul Saenz, or independent contractor ask plaintiff to leave the premises," the lawsuit states.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. did not return phone calls from The Brownsville Herald about the lawsuit.
On Thursday, the Sam’s Club manager, Saenz, said he did not remember the dispute and was not aware that a lawsuit had been filed against him. He declined further comment.
Bellamy has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, according to court hearing testimony. He has fought confinement at mental health facilities and court-ordered treatment since his arrest after the customer service altercation. Last month he filed a federal lawsuit against more than 30 officials at the mental health facilities.
He was first committed to Valley Baptist Medical Center East Campus in January but was released about two weeks later when a Cameron County court-at-law judge found there was not enough evidence to suggest Bellamy could harm himself or others, according to court testimony.
But a few days later, Bellamy was transported to Rio Grande State Center in Harlingen after friends and family said he displayed erratic and suicidal behavior. In another hearing held at the mental health facility, Court-at-Law No. 3 Judge Menton Murray Jr. ordered Bellamy to stay and receive treatment. He was released from the Harlingen mental health center late last month.
In a phone interview earlier this week about the lawsuit, Bellamy said, "Now Sam’s will learn something about customer service and the First Amendment."
Bellamy has practiced law for 17 years and has served as a municipal judge in Brownsville for eight. City Manager Charlie Cabler has said that it remains unclear whether Bellamy will return to his municipal court duties.
